Bears
Bears fourth-round RB Roschon Johnson believes that his experience playing quarterback in high school will put him in a better position to succeed as an NFL running back.
“Ultimately, from a character standpoint, I feel like you’re going to get a leader at the position who has played quarterback,” Johnson told NBC Sports Chicago. “So, it’s kind of like that element of leadership that comes from a quarterback but at the running back spot that you normally don’t get from other guys. Running backs aren’t necessarily trained to look at defenses like that.”
Lions
Lions LB coach Kelvin Sheppard said there are no guarantees that first-round LB Jack Campbell will be a starter in his first season with the team.
“It’s proven here,” Sheppard said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I know it’s like the right thing to say, but it is proven. We are going to play the best players. We do not care what that looks like, and when that starts top down, it’s easy for me to walk into my linebacker room after we take a guy Pick 18, because in probably 20 other rooms, that player’s starting, and there’s nothing you can do about it as a position coach.
“Well, that’s not the case here. If Jack isn’t the top two or three, Jack will continue to go through the process of rookie development until he’s hit that mark,” Sheppard added. “Whoever those two guys are, if that’s Derrick and (Jalen Reeves-Maybin), if that’s Anzo and Malcolm. Whatever that looks like, no one can sit here and honestly tell me 365 days ago that you all thought, or myself thought, Malcolm would take the opening snaps. So that’s why it’s hard for me to speak on what it might be, what it will be. We haven’t even put pads on yet and the position I coach, it all starts there.”
Packers
Packers HC Matt LaFleur said he wants Jordan Love to be an accurate passer and has been encouraged by their quarterback’s approach.
“I’ve seen some pretty good throws throughout the course of my career in this league, namely a guy like Peyton Manning. He was pretty good and his ball wasn’t always the tightest but he did a great job,” LaFleur said, via the team’s Youtube. “It’s about just being accurate. Throwing on time. Making the right decisions. Putting the ball in the right spot. And so, I’ve been encouraged — especially, I would say over the course of this last week, one of the things that we’ve kind of talked about in that room is just how important — it’s really the process of playing quarterback.”
LaFleur is confident Love will become a more consistent quarterback with the work he’s putting in this offseason.
“I’m less concerned about the end result right now. But I do believe that if the process is correct, he is going to be more consistent. So, within that, it’s just the footwork, the clean mechanics, keeping a base in the pocket, being able to throw at any point in time. And I think just the rhythm and the timing, that’s something we’ve really stressed. I think he’s done a good job in particular this week of making some really significant strides.”
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